nothing there sings (larks never do)
by ipsa dixit
Summary: He. Was. Free. Free to get revenge./for amber [sweeney todd!au] [gore warning]


_for amber, long long overdue_

 _this was good in october_

 _for hogwarts: writing club [character appreciation - starting a new life; showtime - good for you]; tea challenge [nutty chocolate]; insane house comp [sirius black]; sticker challenge [werewolf]_

 _3022 words, by google docs_

* * *

There was only one thing Sirius Black wanted. It was revenge. For the first time in twelve years, the wind was hitting Sirius' face. He was _free_. The realization hadn't fully hit him yet.

"Where exactly in England are we going, mate?" The voice from behind him brought Sirius back to the present. Sirius spared the speaker a single look before answering.

"London." The speaker was a sailor with messy black hair and glasses, named James.

"Alright."

The duo sailed on, James manning the ship and Sirius watching his small prison disappear.

He. Was. _Free._

Free to get revenge.

* * *

London had lost its beauty.

Everything seemed dark and damp. Sirius hated it. More beggars and homeless people littered the streets than Sirius remembered. As soon as James docked the boat, a beggar man, with thin, straw-colored hair, and scars littering his face, scrambled up to them.

"You!" He was pointing directly at Sirius. "I _know_ you! You must help me… You _owe_ me."

"No, I don't. Get away, filth." With a little kick in the beggar's direction, he lifted his head up and walked past him.

James and Sirius walked on, continuing to central London. They were walking so fast, Sirius not really sure where he was heading, that they almost walked right past a shop Sirius recognized. _Bellatrix's Meat Pies Emporium._

"You go on ahead," he told James. "I want to visit this meat pie place."

"Oh," said James, looking bewildered. "You don't want to go in there. Their quality sucks, honest."

"I'll be fine," Sirius insisted and, without waiting for James' response, he pushed his way into the shop with a jingling sound, leaving James behind.

The shop was empty except for someone sweeping, who quickly put down the broom and rushed over to him.

"Bellatrix's Meat Pie Emporium. Can I take your order?" She seemed eager as if no one had been her shop for ages. "We have meat pies of many different varieties. Well, I say _meat_ , but truth is that that's a bit of a stretch. Meat these days is very expensive, you see and—"

"Actually," Sirius said, cutting her off. "I wanted to see _you_. Bella?"

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed at Sirius, searching his face. They relaxed after a few seconds and she said, "Sirius?" with recognition in her voice.

"Hello, cousin," he said with a smile, spreading his arms for a hug. Bellatrix hugged him, looking slightly confused.

"I thought you were in jail?" she asked, still looking him up and down as if she couldn't really believe that he was standing in front of her.

"I got out, escaped," he said, the grin on his face growing twice as large. "And I was wondering—" Sirius hesitated, not sure if she'd listen to his request. "Do you still have the flat above your shop available?" Bellatrix nodded. "I was wondering if I could set up my old barber shop there?"

"You want to go back to barbering?" Sirius grinned and nodded. "I still have your razors. I didn't sell them. Should've, the way business is going around here. Silver are they?"

Bellatrix moved towards the back, grabbing something through a hole in the wall. She brought out a lavender box and handed it to Sirius. He took it, the grin on his face bigger than ever.

He opened it, and there were five silver razors, perfectly in shape. Sirius took one out and flipped it open, looking at his reflection in the blade.

"My friends…" he whispered, appreciating the shine that they had retained throughout the twelve years of his imprisonment.

Standing there, holding his razor, Sirius felt more powerful, more complete, than he had in a long time.

"At last," he said, holding the razor up, letting the sun from the window glitter on it. "my arm is complete again!"

* * *

The next day, Bellatrix brought Sirius to the town square, wanting to show him to a pop-up shop that came every Thursday. His name was Severus Snape, and he claimed to be the best barber around, even shaving kings!

Sirius doubted it.

Snape's stand was set up in the middle of the street, where everyone could see it. A glittery sign read: _Severus Snape: King of Barbers; Barbers of Kings._ As Sirius and Bellatrix approached, there was only one thing on Sirius' mind: the area smelled goddamn awful.

"What is that awful stench?" he asked Bellatrix, leaning in to whisper to her. Bellatrix took a deep sniff and then immediately clapped a hand to her face, her expression showing disgust.

Before they could converse on the smell further, a gong sounded from the front, a young boy, wearing a brown bowler cap, banging away at it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please!"

Sirius sighed and turned his attention to the boy, who was looking out over the gathering crowd, apprehension scrawled on his face.

"Have you ever woken with considerably less hair than the night before? Does your hair seem to fall out faster than it can grow? Then I have the solution for you!" With a dramatic flair, the boy took off his hat, revealing a head of nice, blond hair. "Snape's Stunning Stimulant! Just mix it in and your hair will be flourishing in no time at all. The world-famous barber now has made this amazing potion to cure all of your baldness!"

The boy started tossing out little bottles of the 'stimulant' into the crowd, where Sirius caught one.

"Ten pounds that he's a fraud," he said, uncorking it and taking a sniff, immediately recoiling. "This smells like piss."

Bellatrix leaned over to take a sniff and also drew back, disgust all over her face.

"This is _piss_ ," Sirius said, louder and more certain. "Piss with"—he gave the bottle a little shake—"ink."

Tossing the small bottle to someone else in the crowd, Sirius made his way to the front, until he was standing right in front of the salesboy.

"This elixir is a fraud."

"Is it?" People in the crowd gasped, looking up at someone who appeared next to the boy. "Yes," he said to the crowd. "It is I, Severus Snape, the sagacity behind the stimulant that will stretch your shock until it reaches your slacks."

"Congrats," Sirius said dryly from in front. "you know words starting with 'S'. Unfortunately, you don't know how to make a _real_ hair stimulant. I call that this stimulant is all bull and I also reckon, Mr 'World-Famous Barber', that I, Mr Sirius Black, can shave a cheek far better than you can." Sirius pushed back his jacket a little bit, showing his silver razors.

"Mr Sirius Black?" Snape said, anger flickering in his eyes for a second as he looked at the razors. "Are you suggesting a contest?"

"Yes."

The crowd murmured, as Sirius selected to people to be shaved. Once they positioned themselves on the stage, Snape waved over a man, looking shallow and thin. Sirius recognized him from years previous, Tom Riddle, the resident Beedle and right-hand man to the Judge.

"Will Beedle Riddle be the judge?" Snape asked, giving the Beedle a look that made Sirius sure that the contest would probably be against him.

"Of course," he said. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Snape said, holding up his own razor.

"Ready," Sirius echoed.

"On your marks, get ready, go!" On the Beedle's mark, Sirius started to sharpen his razor, noticing that Snape talked a lot.

"...the secret, my dear people," Snape was saying, doing more talking than shaving. "is the angle of which you decide to come at the chin. If you do it at a wrong angle, the shave won't be as smooth. If you do it at an even worse angle you might end up killing the—"

"Done," Sirius said, interrupting Snape's speech as he closed his razor and revealing to the audience the man's perfectly shaved face. The Beedle, coming over to inspect the claim, nodded.

"Sirius Black is the winner!"

"What?" Snape sounded angry, but Sirius didn't really care, instead walking over to the Beedle.

"Thank you, good sir."

"Always," he said, giving Sirius a grin. "Do you have your own shop?"

"Yes, he does," Bellatrix said, walking over to the pair. "Above my meat store."

"Come for a free shave, Beedle?" Sirius offered, his jaw slightly clenching as he thought of the Beedle's connections with the Judge.

"Of course," the Beedle said, giving Sirius a smile.

* * *

Business was slow, which was why Sirius was surprised when Severus Snape walked through his door.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked, glancing up at Snape. He thought that he had finished with Snape after beating him a shaving contest, yet Snape was standing in front of him.

"I know who are," Snape said simply, giving Sirius a deep glare.

"Sirius Black. Barber." Sirius didn't understand what Snape was getting at.

"Sirius Black. Convict." Sirius was standing up, facing Snape in a flash. "So it is you. The _boy_ friend of Remus Lupin." Snape said the word 'boyfriend' as if it was a curse, something dirty.

"Possibly," Sirius said, trying to keep down his rising panic. He knew that Snape was trying to bait him, and he wouldn't rise to it.

"I knew it. All I want, do not expose your _gay_ little secret is, let's say, half of your profits." Snape spread his arms out, still glaring at Sirius. "Of course," he added. "I could just expose your secret to the rest of your customers, let them know that they're being served by a convict. Not just any convict, a _gay_."

"No," Sirius said simply. He _wouldn't_ give the greasy man any money.

"Are you sure? You wouldn't want people to know about your _Remus_."

With the jab against Remus, Sirius lost his temper. He picked up the chair he was sitting on and, with one single moment, struck Snape across the face, knocking him to the floor. For good measure, he hit him a few more times, blood spilling out of his head.

* * *

"I just killed a man."

"First time? Have some gin."

Sirius didn't know how to feel. He had _killed_ a man, yet it felt so _right_ to finish Snape. He drank the drink Bellatrix offered him while he rubbed his temples. He had a dead body in his room.

"What are you going to do with the body?" Bellatrix asked, pouring herself gin and sitting down across from Sirius.

"I guess I'll bury him when it's dark."

Bellatrix nodded before a grin spread across her face. "Unless," she said.

"Unless?" Sirius echoed, not sure what she meant.

"I mean, business is rather _slow_ here. And meat's rather expensive these days. If you're ever lucky to get it…" When Sirius didn't respond, she added, "It seems a shame to waste a body like that, if you get what I'm saying…"

Sirius chuckled. "You're not suggesting—"

"—but I am," Bellatrix said, grinning.

"Well, then. Let's clean up this pie shop. I have a feeling that business will be booming soon."

* * *

Business did boom, both for Sirius' Barbery and Bellatrix's Meat Shop, but Sirius was still dissatisfied. The Beedle never came by for his free shave, and he hadn't seen any trace of Judge Pettigrew. What was the point, Sirius pondered, of doing the business if he couldn't get his revenge?

And the worst thing was the few who suspected. There was a certain _odor_ coming from the pie shop. People complained, but even without them, they had plenty of business. Sirius killed quietly, only people who had no connections to the living.

They made good meat.

Bellatrix had employed Snape's old assistant, Draco; he had been left alone after Snape's death. Sirius didn't like the idea of Draco working for them, though; he had been suspicious of Sirius.

Sirius had told Bellatrix of his fears, and one day she appeared at his door.

"You were right," she said, turning her palms up.

"About what?" Sirius asked, busying himself with his razor.

"Draco suspected you of being—how did he phrase it?—'someone bad'."

"Where is he now?" he asked, holding his razor tighter.

"He's locked in the cellar, with the oven, but I think—"

Bellatrix's sentence was cut off by a quick rap at the door. Sirius walked over and opened it to reveal Beedle Riddle standing there.

"I am here to inspect a 'strange smell' people have been reporting," he announced, spreading his arms.

"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed, making quick eye contact with Bellatrix. "But first, how about that free shave I offered?" The Beedle searched Sirius' face for a moment, before shrugging.

"Okay, I'll indulge," he said, shrugging off his overcoat and sitting in his barber's chair.

It was a quick death, just one swipe across the neck, ending Beedle Riddle's life. For some reason, the blood on his fingers gave Sirius energy.

"Send him to the cellar," Sirius ordered to Bellatrix, who nodded quickly, picking up his body and taking him away.

Sirius began to clean up the blood, when his door swung open, without a knock. A beggar man stood there. He obviously had just witnessed Sirius kill the Beedle through the window.

"Sirius Black," the beggar muttered. "what have you become?"

In three quick strides, Sirius made his way over to the beggar and yanked him into the room, forcing him into the chair as he struggled. He stopped struggling as Sirius ended his life with another quick swipe of his razor. Bellatrix returned as the beggar went limp.

"Take him downstairs," Sirius told her, nodding at the beggar. She complied as he resumed cleaning his area, finishing as there was yet another knock at his door.

"What a delight," Sirius said as opened the door to reveal the person he wanted to see the most during all his time in London: the esteemed Judge Pettigrew.

"Sirius Black. I've heard many good things about your barber shop and I've decided that I just _had_ to see for myself. I am at your service."

Sirius smiled at the judge. His luck seemed to be turning up.

He sat the Judge down in his barber chair and prepared his razor. The moment seemed too sweet. He would finally, _finally_ , get his revenge on the one judge that ruined his life.

His murder was as quick as any others, but it felt much, much better.

Not bothering to clean himself, Sirius picked up the dead body of Judge Pettigrew and brought him down to the cellar, to see Bellatrix dragging the beggar man to the open furnace.

"Leave the beggar. We have bigger meats to fry," he called, placing down the Judge.

"No, I think I'll finish this, first," Bellatrix said, a quiver in her voice.

"Why? It's just a beggar. Let's finish with the Judge," Sirius said, walking over to Bellatrix.

He froze when he saw the beggar's face clearly for the first time, in the blazing light of the fire.

" _No_ ," he whispered, feeling as if a knife was going through his heart. "He said he _knew_ me. He said—My Remus… Remus…" Sirius sunk down to the floor, taking Remus' head in his lap. His hands were quickly turning crimson from blood, but he didn't really care at that point. The crimson would never go away, now.

"Sirius?" Bellatrix's tentative voice called from behind him.

"You did this to him," Sirius noted calmly. He didn't turn to meet her gaze. He didn't want to take his eyes off of Remus.

"Well, yes, but I thought—"

"You thought? You thought? You _knew_ and you still—" Sirius lay Remus' head on the floor and got up, facing Bellatrix. "Obviously you did _not_ think!" he shouted. He was aware of several things at once—the smell of burning flesh, the still lit furnace, Bellatrix's slightly cowering form. "But I understand," he lied, backing down from her.

"You do?" she asked, looking at him, confused at the sudden change of heart. Sirius nodded and Bellatrix's face relaxed. She walked over and gave him a quick embrace, but before she could pull away, Sirius grabbed her hands.

"You know, I fancy a dance," he said to her, already starting to lead her in a soft waltz.

"A dance?" Bellatrix asked, uncertain, but still following his steps, trying not to trip.

They swept along gracefully, without any music, but Sirius wouldn't be able to hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears. They only stopped in front of the open furnace, close enough for Sirius to feel the heat. Bellatrix, who had been relaxing into the music, had realized Sirius' plan.

A thought came to him as Bellatrix's face fell. Was he really about to just _murder_ Bellatrix? He thought of the answer as, with a hard shove, he pushed her into the fire. She was the one who had already turned him into a murderer. The blood was already on his hands. Her death would make no difference.

Sirius quickly shut the furnace before she could crawl out and he watched her burn through the little window in the door.

It was only slightly satisfying.

He then went back to Remus, who, he was sure, was completely dead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, taking Remus' head again. Tears weren't falling from him. "You got what you always wanted," he muttered to himself. "Look where it put you. _I'm sorry_."

Sirius kept on repeating the words, only stopping when he thought he heard a footstep from behind him. From the metal wall, Sirius could see a young boy with golden hair, brandishing a razor. _His_ razor, which he had discarded when he saw Remus. With a weird jolt, he realized that his pursuer was Draco—just a kid, but Sirius made no move to get up and overpower him. He _deserved_ this. Sirius deserved to die, as penance for all the murders he had committed.

He whispered one last apology as he tilted his head, exposing his neck, making it easier to die. His back tensed as Draco reached him, but he still made no movement, as Draco swiped the razor across his neck.

At least he'd be back with Remus.


End file.
